The past,present,and future of research on religious and spiritual development in adolescence,young adulthood,and beyond

The past: a history of research on religious and spiritual development

Since the emergence of the field of psychology, there has been interest in the psychology of religion and spirituality. William James, who is considered the “father of American psychology,” is also regarded as a pioneer in the psychology of religion. His book, The Varieties of Religious Experience (James, 1902), is a classic in the field that remains influential and relevant more than a century after its first publication (Proudfoot, 2004). Similarly, G. Stanley Hall, a founder of the subfield of developmental psychology, also made early contributions to the psychology of religion (Vande Kemp, 1992). His book, Adolescence, considered one of the founding works in adolescent psychology, includes “religion” in its subtitle (Hall, 1904). Thus, the study of adolescent religious and spiritual development emerged more than a century ago.

However, for various reasons, the psychology of religion, and the study of religious and spiritual development more specifically, was slow to get off the ground (Paloutzian, 2016; Roehlkepartain et al., 2006). First, many were (and likely still are) of the philosophy that science and religion are mutually exclusive, and thus should be considered separately. Second, as psychology split off from philosophy, the discipline seems to have left behind religious concerns. Third, the rise of the mental health profession led to competition between psychology and religion over how to best “help people” overcome challenges. Fourth, the rise of the mental health profession also led psychology to be problem-focused, thus drawing attention away from more positive aspects of human development and functioning such as religion and spirituality (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). This negative focus has been particularly true in the study of adolescent development (Damon, 2004). Fifth, religion became increasingly seen as a realm of personal discretion and not a fundamental dimension of human development and functioning. In fact, many developmental psychology textbooks still make only cursory mention of religion and spirituality. Sixth, religion is often perceived as political and, as a result, controversial. Seventh, many psychologists are not personally religious themselves (Gross & Simmons, 2009).

Nevertheless, in recent decades, the psychology of religion and spirituality has taken hold and propelled the study of religious and spiritual development forward. While the developmental milestones of the field are too many to comprehensively list, we will highlight a few of particular significance. First, the positive youth development perspective emerged around two decades ago, which encouraged the study of positive domains of development such as religion and spirituality (Lerner, 2005). Concurrently, journals started publishing special issues related to religious and spiritual development, such as the Journal of Adolescence’s issue on adolescent religiousness (Elkind, 1999) and Applied Developmental Science’s issue on spiritual development (Furrow & Wagener, 2003). Third, during this same era, empirical studies of religious and spiritual development started making their way into high-impact developmental journals (e.g. King & Furrow, 2004). Fourth, also around the same time, seminal chapters and books on child and adolescent religious and spiritual development began emerging in academic contexts. Two influential books were The Handbook of Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence (Roehlkepartain et al., 2005) and The Encyclopedia of Religious and Spiritual Development (Dowling & Scarlett, 2005). Shortly after, for the first time, the Handbook of Child Psychology, then in its sixth edition, included a chapter on religious and spiritual development (Oser et al., 2006).

This trend toward increasing visibility of work on religious and spiritual development has continued during the past two decades. A few additional, notable developmental milestones include the following: First, just over a decade ago, scholars started to mobilize in taking a cultural approach to the psychology of religion, in books (Belzen, 2010), chapters (Saroglou & Cohen, 2013), and journal special issues (Saroglou & Cohen, 2011). That trend toward global perspectives has continued, including within the study of religious and spiritual development specifically (Jensen, 2021). Second, in terms of continued interest in positive youth development, there was the publication of the edited volume Positive Youth Development and Spirituality (Lerner et al., 2008). Third, numerous special sections or issues of journals on religious and spiritual development have emerged, including reviews and empirical studies focused on adolescence (e.g. Hardy & King, 2019; Hardy & Nelson, 2021). Fourth, empirical studies of adolescent religious and spiritual development have continued to make their way into top journals, using increasingly innovative methods and analyses (e.g. Hardy et al., 2020). Fifth, more chapters and books focused on religious and spiritual development have been published. In 2009, for the first time, publishers of the Handbook of Adolescent Psychology, in its third edition, included a chapter on religious and spiritual development (King & Roeser, 2009). In addition, the first edition of the APA Handbook of Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality included a chapter focused on adolescence (King et al., 2013). More impressive, the APA Handbook of Adolescent and Young Adulthood included a chapter on religious development in its recent first edition (Hardy & Nelson, 2022). There was also the book Emerging Adults’ Religiousness and Spirituality: Meaning Making in an Age of Transition, which focused on young adulthood (Barry & Abo-Zena, 2014). Sixth, the growing body of work in this area has enabled scholars to conduct systematic reviews (Hardy, Nelson, et al., 2019; Lekwauwa et al., 2022; McCann et al., 2020; Pearce et al., 2019) and meta-analyses (Cheung & Yeung, 2011; Koletić et al., 2021; Russell et al., 2020; Yonker et al., 2012).

Religious and spiritual development can also be contextualized within developmental theories. Based on bioecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1992), human development involves changes in biology, cognition, and emotion within the individual, while the individual is embedded within interconnected layers of developmental contexts, such as family, peers, religious communities, culture, and history. Lerner further emphasized the active role of the individual in their own development, the dynamics of various processes within the individual and bi-directional relations between individuals and contexts (Lerner et al., 2015). Within this framework, religious and spiritual development can be viewed as complex and dynamic processes. Based on several classic theories of development, adolescence is an especially active time for religious and spiritual development. Within Erikson’s (1963) lifespan theory of psychosocial development, during adolescence individuals face the challenge of identity versus role confusion, with religion being one of the key domains of identity. In addition, according to Piaget’s cognitive development theory (Piaget & Inhelder, 1969), adolescence brings the emergence of formal operational thought, which allows for greater understanding of abstract ideas such as religious beliefs. Piaget also saw a critical role for peers in this process. On the other hand, Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural theory highlighted the role of parents and other adult role models in scaffolding the developmental process. Work by Whiting and Whiting (1975) and others also demonstrated similarities and differences in developmental processes across cultures.

The present: a summary of current work on religious and spiritual development

The domain of religious and spiritual development is multi-dimensional (Hardy, Nelson, et al., 2019). Based on theoretical models of religion, as well as the existing body of empirical work, foundational dimensions of study include the following: cognitive, behavioral, affective, identification, well-being, spiritual, ecological or relational, and transformative religious or spiritual experiences. The cognitive dimension involves religious beliefs, such as the existence and nature of God, as well as knowledge of specific religious facts and concepts, such as historical events and religious doctrines. The behavioral dimension includes public religious involvement, particularly religious worship service attendance and youth activities, as well as private religious practices, particularly prayer and scripture study. The affective dimension includes the perceived personal importance of religion as well as various motivations for engaging in religious behavior. The identification dimension includes religious affiliation as well as the degree to which one has a religious identity. The well-being dimension includes divergent constructs such as doubt and life satisfaction as well as positive and negative religious coping. The spiritual dimension can be split into theistic spirituality, which is transcendence involving deity, and existential spirituality which is transcendence involving humanity and nature. The ecological dimension includes family religiosity, peer religiosity, and the supportiveness of the religious community. Transformative religious or spiritual experiences reference more singular life changing events such as the Biblical story of Paul on the road to Damascus.

Most research on religious and spiritual development in adolescence and beyond has focused on outcomes of religion and spirituality in US populations (Cheung & Yeung, 2011; Hardy, Nelson, et al., 2019; Pearce et al., 2019; Yonker et al., 2012). Unsurprisingly, given the negative focus in the field of psychology more generally, much of this outcome research has examined the protective role of religion and spirituality against negative adolescent and young adult outcomes, particularly substance use, internalizing symptoms, externalizing behaviors, and sexual risk-taking (Hardy, Nelson, et al., 2019). Consistently, most studies find that more religious youth are less likely to experience these negative developmental outcomes. Other research also demonstrates that religion and spirituality can promote positive youth outcomes, such as coping and resilience, psychological well-being, moral or prosocial development, academic achievement, and self and identity formation (Hardy, Nelson, et al., 2019). An earlier meta-analysis of the role of “religious involvement” on “constructive and destructive behaviors” in adolescence found an overall significant but weak effect, with a somewhat stronger effect for constructive behavior (Cheung & Yeung, 2011). Another meta-analysis looked at the roles of religion, spirituality, or faith on a variety of positive and negative youth outcomes, and similarly found a significant but weak overall effect (Yonker et al., 2012). Recent meta-analyses demonstrated this same small but significant protective effect of religiousness and spirituality in terms of alcohol use (Russell et al., 2020) and sexual risk-taking (Koletić et al., 2021). Most of this work on positive and negative outcomes focuses on adolescence, but similar trends are found with young adults (Magyar-Russell et al., 2014). Similarly, most of this research has involved US youth, but similar trends are found in other cultures (Hardy, Nelson, et al., 2019).

A majority of the research on youth outcomes of religion and spirituality has focused on their adaptive role in protecting youth against negative outcomes. As such, less is known about the role of religion and spirituality in promoting positive outcomes. Yet it seems religious and spiritual development is interconnected with development in other positive domains, such as moral development and identity formation (Hardy et al., 2017). As such, religion and spirituality may be an ideal developmental context for positive youth development (Benson et al., 2012). Indeed, Benson and colleagues argue that religion is a potentially salient source of many of the developmental assets, both individual and contextual, that youth need to thrive and flourish, and this seems to largely be true across the globe.

In addition, less is known about potential maladaptive outcomes of religion and spirituality. Although generally they serve as adaptive developmental contexts for youth, this is not always the case. In particular, religion can be a source of struggle for religious minorities and sexual minorities (Hardy, Nelson, et al., 2019). In terms of religious minorities, religion can be both a resource and a challenge for immigrant youth in the United States, particularly those of non-Christian faiths such as Islam (Abo-Zena & Barry, 2013). Religious minority youth often battle prejudice and policies that may hinder their ability to live their religion. In terms of sexual minority youth, they often battle prejudice and policies stemming from religious norms again non-heterosexual and non-cisgender identity, behavior, and lifestyle (Wolf & Platt, 2022). In particular, they often deal with psychological turmoil as they are pushed to either prioritize their religious identity, their sexual identity, or find a way to effectively integrate them.

Research has also dug deeper into identifying mediators and moderators of relations between religion and spirituality and youth developmental outcomes (Hardy, Nelson, et al., 2019; Pearce et al., 2019). Mediators are mechanisms by which predictors might affect outcomes and are often statistically referred to as indirect effects. Several patterns have emerged regarding possible mediators of religious influence on youth outcomes (Hardy, Nelson, et al., 2019). First, often certain dimensions of religiousness can mediate relations between other dimensions of religiousness and youth outcomes. Private dimensions of religiousness (e.g. religious importance) are often more salient predictors of youth outcomes than public dimensions (e.g. worship service attendance) and thus serve as effective mediators. Second, often the most consistent and strong mediators are in the realms of values or attitudes and social control or norms. This makes sense as these have to do with what Smith (2003) calls the “moral orders” that religion provides—that is, prescriptions and proscriptions. Values and attitudes are one’s personal sense of right and wrong, while social control and norms are one’s sense of the standards of right and wrong in one’s community. Third, one important way in which religiousness may be linked to youth outcomes is through peers, likely via a combination of processes of selection and influence. In other words, more religious youth are likely to have more religious and conventional peers, leading to better youth outcomes. Fourth, some frequently studied mediators like self-control and social capital are theoretically viable but yield less consistent and strong mediation effects.

Substantial research has also examined moderators of relations between religion and spirituality with youth outcomes. Moderators are a third set of variables that can affect the strength of relations between predictors and outcomes and are often statistically referred to as interaction effects. There are two ways moderation processes have been examined regarding outcomes of adolescent religion and spirituality. Sometimes dimensions of religiousness are theorized as the predictors or the moderators, and sometimes as both. When religiousness is positioned as the predictor, often researchers examine the moderating roles of demographic characteristics such as gender and ethnicity (Pearce et al., 2019). Findings regarding gender as a moderator are mixed and complex, and often depend on the outcome domain. Findings regarding ethnicity as the moderator suggest that generally religion plays a stronger role on youth outcomes for White youth than Black youth, even though Black youth tend to be more religious. When religiousness is positioned as the moderator, it is often as a buffer or protective factor against maladaptive outcomes of averse life experiences, such as stress, abusive or otherwise unhealthy family contexts, victimization, and violence exposure (Hardy, Nelson, et al., 2019). It seems such effects are found about half the time they are tested. Often qualitative studies provide rich evidence to support this role of religion as a buffer, particularly in terms of religion as a source of positive coping and resilience in the face of life challenges, such as poverty (e.g. Dill, 2017) and illness (e.g. Al Omari et al., 2017). Finally, religion can be both a predictor and moderator. For example, religious importance and worship service attendance seem to interact such that each more strongly predicts youth outcomes at higher levels of the other (e.g. Hardy et al., 2012). Most of this work on mediators and moderators of outcomes of religion and spirituality has focused on US youth, although research is emerging demonstrating mediation and moderation in other Western (e.g. the Netherlands; van der Jagt-Jelsma et al., 2019) and Eastern (e.g. Indonesia; French et al., 2023) cultures.

There is also a fair amount of research on predictors of adolescent religious and spiritual development (Hardy & Longo, 2021; Hardy & Nelson, 2022). At the individual level, often the strongest predictors of religious and spiritual development are other dimensions of religion. For example, across adolescence, decreases in religious importance (Dyer et al., 2020) and increases in doubt (Hunsberger et al., 2002) are linked to declines in religious behaviors. Other aspects of personality are also predictive of religious development. For example, identity formation and religious development are dynamically interconnected across adolescence (Hardy, Pratt, et al., 2011). Demographic factors are also predictive of religious development. For example, girls tend to be more religious than boys, and African American youth tend to be more religious than those of other ethnicities (Smith & Denton, 2005). Unfortunately, little is known about individual predictors of religious and spiritual development in other cultures.

Developmental contexts are also predictive of religious development. The most proximal context for religious development is the family (Hardy, Dollahite, & Baldwin, 2019). For instance, youth from more religious families tend to be more religious themselves and are more likely to stay religious across adolescence (Goodman & Dyer, 2019). Parenting styles moderate these links, as parent and adolescent religiousness are more strongly connected in authoritative families (Hardy, White, et al., 2011). Beyond the family, peers are also important. More religious youth tend to have more religious peers (Pearce & Denton, 2011). The supportiveness of the religious community is also important, as youth from more supportive religious communities tend to be and stay more religious (Pearce & Denton, 2011). While most of this work on developmental contexts of religious and spiritual development has occurred in the United States, there is emerging research similarly demonstrating the importance of family (French et al., 2013) and peers (French et al., 2012) in other cultures, such as Indonesia.

Some studies have also examined developmental processes and trajectories of religious and spiritual development (Hardy & Longo, 2021; Hardy & Nelson, 2022). Only a few dozen studies have systematically examined changes in religiousness across adolescence. The most consistent finding is that religious worship service attendance tends to decline across adolescence (e.g. Dyer et al., 2020). In line with this, person-centered analyses have identified various trajectories of religious attendance across adolescence, with declining trajectories being the most prevalent (Petts, 2009). A few studies have also examined changes in private religious practices, such as prayer, evidencing similar declines across adolescence (e.g. Dyer et al., 2020). Findings regarding changes in religious importance are more mixed, with some studies reporting stability (e.g. Lopez et al., 2011) but others reporting declines (e.g. Dyer et al., 2020). Thus, religious behaviors likely decline more across adolescence than internal aspects of religiousness, such as religious importance. Little is known about processes of religious and spiritual development in other countries. Religiosity may decrease among Croatian (Cranney et al., 2018) and Canadian (Hardy, Pratt, et al., 2011) youth, but is either stable (French et al., 2011) or increasing (French et al., 2014) in Indonesian youth.

Research is growing on discrete changes in religious identification, such as conversion, deconversion, and religious switching (Hardy & Longo, 2021). Of particular interest is religious deconversion as rates of non-religiousness in the United States have doubled over the last two decades (Pew Research Center, 2022). Adolescence is a heightened time for religious deconversion, as youth are developing critical thinking skills, gaining more autonomy, and developing their identities. Currently, about 32% of youth in the United States do not identify with a religion (Pew Research Center, 2020). Unfortunately, little is known about religious deconversion. However, a recent study found that youth who are less religious, from less religious families, with fewer religious peers, and who feel less supported by their religious community are more likely to leave religion (Hardy, Hatch, et al., 2022). Furthermore, decreases in religiousness tended to precede the decision to deidentify as religious (Hardy, Hendricks, et al., 2022). Although most of this deconversion research has been conducted in the United States, work is emerging on the topic in other cultures, particularly Europe (e.g. Poland; Zarzycka et al., 2023).

The future: recommendations for research on religious and spiritual development

As we head into another two decades of research on religious and spiritual development in adolescence and beyond, we recommend the following potentially promising directions for future research. First, more research is needed on the role of religion in promoting positive youth development. Given the negative focus in psychology, most prior work has focused on religion as a protective factor. See the review of literature on spirituality and positive youth development by Hay and colleagues in this special issue. Second, more research is needed to understand the experiences of young religious minorities in the United States, as well as the processes of religious development in other countries outside the United States. Most research on religious development has involved Christian youth in the United States. See Abo-Zena’s review of research on religious minorities in this special issue. Third, more research is needed on potential maladaptive outcomes or challenges of religiousness for certain subpopulations, such as young sexual minorities. In particular, there is concern about the complex relationship between religion, sexual orientation, and suicide. See Goodman’s review of this literature in this special issue. Fourth, more research is needed on religious deconversion, particularly during adolescence and young adulthood. As noted earlier, the rates of religious deconversion are increasing dramatically over time, particularly in North America and Western Europe. Thus, understanding the processes, predictors, and outcomes of religious deconversion is a timely issue of importance to the field and to society. See the review of this literature by Hardy and Taylor in this special issue.

Featured reviews of research on contemporary issues in adolescent religious and spiritual development

This article serves as an introduction to a special issue on Contemporary Issues in Religious and Spiritual Development in Adolescence, Young Adulthood, and Beyond. This special issue includes four featured review articles dealing with salient contemporary issues in the study of adolescent religious and spiritual development. The set of articles stems from a preconference held on the topic in conjunction with the 2022 conference of the Society for Research on Adolescence (SRA). Here, we will briefly introduce and summarize the four featured review articles.

The first article is by Hay and colleagues titled “Spirituality as a Key Asset in Promoting Positive Youth Development: Advances in Research and Practice.” Although spirituality is a universal element of human experience, it is an understudied aspect of development, particularly in cultures outside of the United States. In particular, little is known about the potential role of spirituality as a developmental asset for positive youth development. In this article, Hay and colleagues present spirituality research and practice in terms of (a) theory, (b) measurement, and (c) evaluations of positive youth development programs in low- and middle-income countries. In terms of theory, the review is grounded in relational developmental systems theory. They also outline models of spirituality as well as the “Big Three” features of positive youth development programs. Next, they present advances in theory-based approaches to measuring spirituality among diverse populations. Finally, they discuss research on describing, explaining, and promoting spirituality and positive youth development, and detail a case study of the Compassion International program. This case study exemplifies a theory-based and methodologically rigorous program evaluation, and provides rich data demonstrating the role of spirituality in positive youth development among youth across the globe.

The second article is by Abo-Zena titled “Towards Understanding Developmental Complexities of Religiously Minoritized Youth.” She provides several theoretical and methodological tools for the study of religious minority youth. These person-centered and relational tools encourage and enable a holistic, ecologically valid, intersectional approach to the study of the experiences and development of religious minority youth. The focus is on understanding how such youth navigate their various intersecting identities within their specific cultural contexts. A salient example involves Muslim youth in the United States and the various assets and liabilities that come with practicing their faith as religious minorities. Knowledge learned from this research has important implications for practices and policies within education, health care, and community settings.

The third article is by Goodman titled “Associations between Religion and Suicidality for LGBTQ Individuals: A Systematic Review.” Religiousness is generally considered a developmental asset among youth, while being a sexual minority is typically a developmental challenge. When youth are religious but also identify as sexual minorities, the situation gets complex. An added complication is that many religions have doctrines and policies that are counter to the LGBTQ lifestyle. This can make identity formation challenging, as some youth struggle to integrate their seemingly contradictory religious and sexual identities. As such, many in society and in the social sciences suspect that religion actually exacerbates the suicide risk for LGBTQ youth. This article reviews research since 2000 on religion and suicidality among LGBTQ youth. The findings are indeed mixed and complex. Nevertheless, counter to the narrative often presented in the media, religion is typically either protective or neutral regarding suicidality among LGBTQ youth. The exception is that conflict between religious and sexual identities is almost uniformly problematic.

The fourth article is by Hardy and Taylor titled “Religious Deconversion during Adolescence and Young Adulthood: A Literature Review.” As noted earlier, religious deconversion is an increasingly prevalent phenomenon, particularly during adolescence. In this article, the authors present an update on statistical trends regarding religious deconversion. Then, they present various theoretical models for conceptualizing processes of religious deconversion. Next, they review research on processes, predictors, and outcomes of religious deconversion during adolescence. Predictors are identified in terms of the individual, family, peers, religious community, education, and social media. Outcomes are identified in terms of physical, psychological, and social aspects. Deconversion is discussed in terms of youth becoming less religious and youth leaving religion.

Conclusion

This article serves as the introduction to the special issue of Archived for the Psychology of Religion on the topic of Contemporary Issues in Religious and Spiritual Development in Adolescence, Young Adulthood, and Beyond. We began by narrating the history of work in this area. Next, we reviewed the present state of research in this area. Then, we pointed to promising future directions. Finally, we introduced the featured articles in the special issue, which are literature reviews relevant to these promising directions. We hope this introductory piece, as well as the featured pieces, will provide a solid foundation for new and veteran scholars in the area of adolescent religious and spiritual development to build research programs of high impact to the field and society.